It has now been quite evident that Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to take the Narendra Modi government head on, which was evident from the way he had rejected the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced by the Centre, describing it as bogus, hollow and jugglery of figures.
Surprisingly, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and YSR Congress party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy took a completely different stand.
While welcoming the package, Jagan appointed a committee to study the ways to utilise the benefits to be accrued to the state from the package.
The committee, to be headed by chief secretary Neelam Sawhney, has several senior officials of the key departments, besides Jagan’s close aides - V Vijay Sai Reddy, P Mithun Reddy and Anantapur MP Talari Rangaiah.
The committee will work out a plan and prepare guidelines for the effective utilisation of the package.
“We need to take steps for the effective implementation of the package. All the departments concerned should come out with action plans to utilise the benefits of the package,” the chief secretary said.
It may be mentioned that KCR made some strong comments against the Centre, alleging that the Modi government was treating the states like beggars. It was unfortunate that the Centre had tried to rule over the states taking advantage of the financial crisis in the states.
He said the Central package clearly showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talk of cooperative federalism was just bogus.
“We are also constitutionally elected governments and not subordinates of the Centre. By offering such a package, the Modi government has lost its image in the eyes of the people,” he said.
